Outdoors

Vermont’s bear hunting season opens Sept. 1

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department officials say the state’s black bear population has grown over the last two years and is now estimated to be slightly more than 6,000. Officials say that’s above the objective of 4,500-6,000 bears listed in Vermont’s Big Game Management Plan for 2010-2020.

Twenty-five years ago Vermont had fewer than 3,000 bears, mostly in the mountains and Northeastern part of the state.